Sporadic fighting continues after Syrian government troops have regained control of the village of Maaloula, a center of Christianity in the region. RT’s correspondent reports from the village, amid the shooting and fighter jets overhead.

Fighter jet in the skies over #Maaloula.
Separate shots + artillery. The army regained control but they
fear there could be snipers here

Despite the battle, RT’s crew made to the central square of
Maaloula, the first time since they arrived in Syria on Saturday.

From there they headed towards Mar Takla (St.Thakla) - one of the
two oldest surviving monasteries in Syria – on the edge of
Maaloula.

On the way they were caught in crossfire during which the
camera-man’s assistant received a mild injury.
“We were shooting a package. It was already dark and suddenly
militants started to fire. We had to hide between houses. The
situation was getting worse and worse. As a result, Kirill’s
forehead was slashed by a ricochet,” RT’s camera man said.

We couldn't take main road while leaving #Maaloula,we
broke a fence behind the house where we were barricaded to get
out.

Inside the village fire was mainly targeting the mountaintop
Safir Hotel, which the Al-Nusra Front militants seized last
Wednesday. There were no militants inside, the army said, but
some 200 jihadists are still hiding in the mountains that
surround Maaloula.

“It’s still dangerous to be here, and this is why they [army]
allow journalists here only before sunset,” Maria Finoshina
reported. “According to the army there were local residents who
were kept hostage in the basement of this hotel, but they are
also free now,” she added.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters have carried out several attacks
on Maaloula since last Wednesday.

On Saturday pro-Assad forces managed to regain control for a
short period of time, however by in the early hours of Sunday
morning militants had retaken the village.

That occasion also saw the RT crew come perilously close to the
fighting.

“It’s hard to believe that what used to be one of the most
significant shrines of the Christian community all over the world
is a battlefield now,” Finoshina reported from the village on
Saturday, her voice occasionally drowned out by the sound of
gunfire.

Maaloula – a mountain village of 2,000 residents, 60km northeast
of Damascus - is a major pilgrimage destination for Christians
from around the world.

It’s home to some of the most ancient Orthodox Christian relics
and is also one of the very few places in the world where people
still speak Aramaic, a biblical-era language that Jesus is
believed to have spoken.

Apart from being an ancient sanctuary on a UNESCO list of
proposed World Heritage sites, Maaloula is also strategically
important, situated on a highway between Damascus and Homs. The
rebels have already established bases in the west and south of
the capital. The village in the northeast would significantly
increase rebel pressure on Damascus.